Lonza was founded in 1897 in the small Swiss town of Gampel, situated in the canton of Valais, taking its name from the nearby river. Initially the company produced electricity used to manufacture chemicals such as calcium carbide. Then years later Lonza moved to Visp, where it started to transform itself from an electricity-generating through a chemical company to one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries. Even today, the plant in Visp is still Lonza’s largest site and one of the most significant for production and R&D.

For the Life Science Ingredients division, the Visp site produces a number of chemical intermediates and ingredients – including some of Lonza’s most established products, dating back to the first decades of the 20th century – for a broad range of end-applications, including pharmaceuticals, vitamins, nutrition products, agrochemicals, dyestuffs, adhesives, as well as for the electronics, aerospace and automotive industries.

In the Custom Manufacturing division, the Visp site specializes in the production of microbial biopharmaceuticals, as well as in the production of regulated intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), highly active pharmaceutical ingredients (HAPIs), antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and peptides for pharmaceutical applications.

Employees: 2,890

How to reach Lonza at Visp (PDF)
The easiest way to reach Visp (Canton of Valais) from the three Swiss international airports, Basel, Geneva and Zurich, is by train (the shortest way is from Geneva).

Basel (Ride time: 2½ hours)
Buses every 15 minutes from the airport to the main railway station.Trains to Visp leave every hour from 6:01 to 21:04. You will have to change sometimes the train at Berne.

Geneva (Ride time: 2½ hours)
From the airport, there are direct trains leaving for Visp. Trains to Visp leave every hour from 4:56 to 22:36.

Zurich (Ride time: 2½ - 3 hours)
Trains every 10 minutes from the airport to the main railway station.Trains to Visp leave every hour from 5:03 to 20:34. You will have to change the train sometimes at Berne.